NOVEL NEXT 156 - Away From Home
The advantage of knowing more about my past was that I could better accommodate any time it tried to take control of my present life. No more palatable, but actually manageable. With some effort, I figuratively swallowed down the vortex of heavy emotions and stepped out of the building.
Grapple took me out of a street full of dead gnolls, and back up to the roof, where the elf had now stopped her overhead assault. The storm clouds had passed. Ironic, given the way that my left hand was still shaking slightly.
Ren cocked her head and gestured at the rifle now slung across my back. "Souvenir?"
[Evidence.]
Somewhere in between. This was an AR-KL Mark 2. The slightly smaller and older cousin of the Mark 3. The latter being the weapon my squad had been outfitted with. Even so, it wasn't a sure bet that the World Government had supplied them to the Gnaws. Old, illegal tech often changed hands several times. It had left a sour taste in my lack of mouth. Only partially because the rifle I had taken needed a full strip down and clean.
I shook the vision of a shadowed figure chewing me out for not maintaining my weapon from my head.
//Gunquake: On our way back to regroup.
//Rockslide: Area is relatively clear.
//Rockslide: Targets are falling back.
//Rockslide: You're going to want to see this here…
Ren and I exchanged a nod, and we moved. Staying behind to shred through the gnolls pursuing us had given us more breathing room, as well as taking out a small detachment of arms and armor. It wasn't the full force of the mutants, and part of me was hoping they were struggling to properly mobilize. Having weapons and vehicles was one thing, but using them effectively against a threat wasn't something you could idly luck into.
My boots burst up chunks of the street as we landed back to the route the other three had taken. Using empowered V-Force, I was able to run at a greater pace than I ever had with my real legs. Ren had no issue keeping up while flying atop her bow.
Thankfully, the Natural Disasters had wrought hell through the streets. We didn't have to move cautiously. Splotches of red painted the buildings that weren't collapsed, as bodies lay slumped and broken throughout the road. Scorches scarred the stonework where electricity or lava had been utilized.
In a way, I could understand why the World Government wanted to keep the League of Heroes in check. If Goldarch wasn't a gilded cage for those with superpowers… this sort of thing could be a common occurrence around the world. The amount of destruction just a handful of us could enact…
A war would destroy the city. The Gov would have no choice but to go scorched earth.
Even if I could understand, I didn't empathize. They had created me as a tool to hunt and destroy superheros that weren't protected by the League. While Kingston just had me working the other side of the coin, I didn't feel like a tool anymore. For all the flaws and faults of the way Goldarch ran, this was possibly the only place I could exist and live. Hells, I was even celebrated here. Doubly so if my performance at the Arena went well.
It wasn't long before we caught up with the rest of the Natural Disasters. Tactical outfits dusty and sweaty, the three looked rather fed up - even with their faces obscured. Roxy's arms were steaming. Belle was applying a bandage around a gash in Roy's arm as the speedster kept watch around the barricade they had made out of a collapsed building.
Dozens of mutant bodies lay strewn around the area, but there were no gnolls currently throwing themselves in to the grinder.
"Clara says they're heading up northeast to the main military area," the super said as she massaged a wrist. "We have a couple of minutes. Check this in the next street."
I nodded and followed along as Ren perched a little higher to keep an eye on our surroundings. Roxy led me through a slim side passage just out of the war zone, and into an open courtyard.
Several trucks and civilian cars sat in roughly marked parking spaces. Dusty and worn, like everything here, but an odd sight out here. World Government personnel vehicles? Rather than ask out loud, I followed the super around to the back of one of the vans, where the door had been left open.
I furrowed my brow and picked up a pistol. A palette of weaponry took up the back of the vehicle, beneath the raised flap of a hidden compartment.
[These are… the illegal firearms?]
"I'm no expert, but it's a distinct possibility." Roxy clicked her tongue and looked around the courtyard. "Fuck me, though. Something of a coincidence, huh?"
I had been hoping to have a whole detective arc where I tracked down the responsible gangs in the dead of night. A few brawls and rough interrogations. A little defenestration, as a treat. Reality didn't care for the creative flare and presented the truth in cold, basic terms.
Another plot of the Gov to continually destabilize Goldarch. Funnel in illegal arms from a mutant camp. The how and why had been answered.
[Who actually delivers these, though?]
She shrugged. Any gnoll rolling through the city would be immediately suspect, as they were mutants by nature. Dangerous and bloodthirsty. This wasn't their style at all.
[We'll need to keep an eye out for anywhere that looks like a Gov building. They must have people stationed here.]
My thoughts switched to the rooms in the underground where we had found the Gov plans.
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"If they have a hand here still guiding the mutants, we'll break a few fingers."
We might have to do a little worse than that. Eyewitnesses would be terrible optics for all involved. Going door to door just in case there was someone planted by the Gov hiding away wasn't possible. Kingston must know this.
//Clara: Nothing obvious from up here.
//Clara: The most visually different area here is the military base.
"Probably the safest place from the sharp teeth of the mutants here," Roxy agreed. "Shall we take the fight to them?"
[Agreed. Let's reconvene with the others.]
I eyed up the vehicles. Right after we destroyed all of this. Before I could step back toward the thin alley, Roxy her put her hand on my arm.
"Just checking, but you're doing alright, yeah?" her burning eyes illuminated the insides of her goggles, clearly concerned.
[Some of this is too reminiscent of my past as a mercenary. I'm also… uncomfortable with my current power. I took half a rifle magazine without a scratch. Every punch or kick breaks bones or tears my opponents apart like they were made of wet cardboard.]
She leaned forward and pressed her head against mine softly. "Only you would complain about not getting beaten bloody in every conflict. Power fucks with your head, trust me. You're not alone, and we're all here for you."
[Thank you, Roxy.]
"Go lead the troops. I'll destroy the courtyard."
I didn't need telling twice. For all the positives having a new hand had granted me, a small part of my mind rejected it. Partially because I was used to having a shotgun instead of an arm. Mostly because it brought more memories of my past back to light. Odd how the brain fused those connections together. There was some dry irony in my first act of having two hands once again being this. A killer.
Stepping through to the other three, I loaded in a Slug cartridge. With all the options available to me, I occasionally forgot the classics. Then again, why use normal ammunition, when my life was anything but normal?
Before I could address the Natural Disasters, there was a burst of energy behind me. I turned to see Roxy leap high up into the air. Straight up from where we had been standing. At her apex, she burst into bright amber as her exposed arms flared with lava. Knowing her, she probably wished she was in her hero outfit so that her legs could do the same.
Like a bomb, she rocketed down back into the courtyard. An explosion echoed around the area as a shockwave of dust billowed out from the alley and warmed us standing ready. With a groan, the buildings on either side of the alley collapsed, revealing flames and smoldering vehicles in the cloud of raised dust.
Roxy stepped over the debris, arms still glowing slightly.
[Listen up, everyone. We're going to take the fight to them before they have a chance to mobilize. Our goal is still the military base. Once that is dealt with, we might be able to head home.]
"Thank fuck," Belle murmured. "I can't wait to get out of these gimp suits."
"Just be thankful you're not also carrying fifty pounds of gear on your back," Roy said.
"Uphill both ways?"
[Enough chatter, we're moving.]
To their credit, they listened immediately. While I was the official leader of the team, I saw it as more of a guiding hand rather than a position of authority. It was how Roxy had led them, and it was how they were able to work effectively while still remain friends. They didn't follow my word because they had to, but because they trusted me and my decision making.
Plus, we all wanted to get this over with and return home. A blunt reminder of how to reach that goal was a pill easily swallowed.
Roxy put a warm hand on my back as she stepped past to take the front line. Although it was meant to be a soft reminder of how she agreed with my leadership, my mind was too focused on a bleaker reality. An alternate reality where we were the bad guys.
Perhaps if we hadn't been expertly led along by Kingston, we would have fallen out against the League. Roxy wasn't only powerful, but when in her zone, she had a lot of savvy when guiding heroes. As a duo, we had the potential to be the downfall of Goldarch. With the other Directors seeing us as a wish-washy hothead and a broken World Gov asset, everyone had lucked out in things falling to their current positions.
Not that I was particularly enjoying myself.
We moved through empty streets, allowing Clara to guide us through routes devoid of any scattered forces. The stragglers weren't making any concerted effort to flank us, and we wanted to skip any potential distraction on the way to the base.
//Clara: Preliminary scan shows eight more armored vehicles.
//Clara: Four squads of military Gnaws, 20 per, although not all have firearms.
//Gunquake: Great, and what's the good news?
//Clara: There's also an unidentified energy signal from that location.
I sighed and gave Roxy a side-eye.
"A whole army, huh?" She flexed her hands out as we jogged through the warm streets. "We need to ask for a raise."
"This doesn't even affect our ranking," Ren added.
//Clara: One detachment and two tanks moving to intercept you.
That seemed ill conceived - although they might be buying time for the rest to get ready to stop us.
"Got any explosives, big guy?" Roy asked me. "I can head them off so we don't slow down."
Curious, I pulled a couple of grenades from the side of my belt and handed them to him.
"This isn't… I haven't refined this enough to make it public yet, but…" the speedster jogged beside me for a few moments, and then vanished.
Aside from a gust of displaced air, I didn't even see him leave. A second later, there was a deafening crack, followed by two explosions in tandem. With a blur, Roy slid back down the street into position with us once more - his boots shredded to scraps and steam pouring from the rest of his beaten tactical gear.
"All dealt with," he gasped between deep breaths.
I raised my eyebrows. Clearly, the others had been taking their roles seriously to have been developing their power in secret. The brief conversation I had with Roy a long time ago about power levels and abilities was a fuzzy memory, so I questioned how this was possible. Still, I wasn't about to look a gift cyber-horse in their lack of mouth.
Instead, I turned my gaze over to Belle.
"What?" she asked, catching me immediately. "You're waiting for me to reveal a new power up that I pulled out of my ass? Forget it, I've had enough on my plate."
//Clara: She is lying.
Belle sighed. "I'm not allowed any fun, huh? Mine is certainly less exciting, however - and Clara did a lot of the heavy lifting."
//Clara: My secret power up was regaining my sanity and free time.
//Gunquake: I thought the arm and reloading system were your ascension.
//Clara: More of the foundation for a stable future.
//Clara: In addition to Belle's surprise, we have also developed a prototype shot.
"Very rough stages," the defensive hero interjected. "At the moment, it doesn't discern between friend and foe. Given the current danger, you might require it."
[Name?]
"Ah, we... hadn't decided on anything yet."
//Clara: It is in Side Loading Tray EX-07, Gunquake.
//Clara: You should be able to call it with that signifier, if necessary.
//Clara: However, as stated, please only use when surrounded and alone.
//Gunquake: Understood.
Not that I intended to get into a situation that I would require it… but I was curious to see what it did, and why I couldn't be around anyone else when firing it. Some weird magic, given that Belle was involved.
We turned a corner and powered down another street. This job was way too much cardio for me. Even with the cyborg legs, I was tired of it. At least the pause in violence gave me the chance to-
//Clara: Apologies for cluttering comms, all.
//Clara: But there is someone outside our home. Flying.
//Clara: Ah. They have breached the dome.
//Clara: Be right back.